


Lost In The Debris

by XmothraX



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: F/M, Inspired by The Walking Dead, The Walking Dead AU, Woodbury, daryl dixon au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-08
Updated: 2015-05-08
Packaged: 2018-03-29 13:02:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3897334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/XmothraX/pseuds/XmothraX
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Daryl Dixon AU<br/>This is set around season 3, after Daryl parts ways with Rick and the prison group to venture out with Merle. Along the journey Merle wanders into harm’s way when baby brother isn’t around to help, and ends up bitten by a walker. Forced to watch his brother die and turn, he then has to put him down. All alone in the Georgia woods, too ashamed to yet make his way back to the prison, he continues his fight to survive...and even makes a friend along the way.</p>
<p>*I tried to pretty closely follow the s3 timeline but there are things askew. I'm aware. It's annoying me but I'm going with it anyways. It's an AU right? :)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> *unfinished!*
> 
> There's some fluffy/smutty stuff in this but it's really not the focus. If that's what you're looking for specifically this might bore you! Just fyi.

It had been a while since Daryl had a wink of sleep. He managed to build a sort of tree house high in the branches of a generous old oak tree near a river embankment. From there he could keep an eye on things. Maybe hunt a squirrel or two, stay quiet and hidden from the random passing walkers, but definitely not sleep. He hadn’t been feeling quite as confident since Merle died. Certainly not since leaving the group back at the prison. He figured he could probably find his way back there if he wanted, but the thought left him feeling inadequate. He wasn’t sure he could face Rick yet. Deep down he knew when he left them that it wouldn’t end well, but he was so ready to be back with his brother, his blood, just like the old days that the false sense of security blinded him. He should have known – nothing was like the old days. Not ever again. The world turned to shit and nothing and nobody was going to ever be okay. Sitting alone in his little makeshift nest, he felt this now more than ever.

He knew it been too long since he’d eaten. His limbs felt weak. His stomach was in a knot. His eyelids were heavy but refused to close. He was caked in filth and too sore to move. If he could even just get down to that river for a quick bath and a few gulps of water he knew it’d make a difference. But he felt paralyzed with something he wasn’t used to – fear. With so much down time all alone he felt the reality around him closing in. Visions and flashing images of rotten teeth coming after his throat, pale lifeless eyes finding him in their haze. Disembodied heads still chomping and searching for his flesh. He couldn’t shake it anymore. Being part of a group used to keep him busy enough to not let this hell get to him as much. Out here in the wilderness with nothing but the sound of his own shaky breath, it was consuming him.

For the first time in a few days, Daryl mustered up the energy to climb a bit out onto the biggest branch and search for signs of safety. Perched like an alert chipmunk, cross bow in hand, he waited and listened. Frogs croaking. Birds chirping. Water running in the near distance. No footsteps, no hoarse moaning or shuffling about. Things seemed quiet. He anxiously glanced back at his spot in the tree and fought everything in him that was screaming to never leave it again. He climbed down onto solid ground. Securing his last few supplies in a small duffel bag, his weapons within reach on his person, and taking a deep breath, he stepped back out into his world. He decided to set goals for himself. First, get to that river. Wash up a bit, have a drink of water. Next, search for some berries or anything that was at all edible. Maybe he’d get lucky and score a fish or a frog in the river. After that… hit the road.

The water was cold and refreshing and he gulped down more than he thought he’d want. It revived him so much he didn’t want to stop. He let it run over his wounded hands and pulled some through his dangling hair. The humidity had been getting better over the last several days, he guessed autumn was approaching. But the coolness still felt amazing against his sweaty skin. Finally satisfied, he gathered himself together again and walked along the river a bit to find what he could. He kicked a log over, nothing good. Keeping his eyes peeled he spotted an elderberry bush not too far. He picked everything he could off of it, popping a few berries into his mouth and stashing the rest in his bag. He was feeling better already, and decided to arm himself properly and really get out of there. Peering back at his tree once more, he sighed and found a trail to follow. No turning back now, he had to keep going or he’d never leave.

After about a mile in Daryl felt himself getting his bearings back. The trails started speaking to him again. He hadn’t spotted any threats yet and the trees kept him shaded from the rising afternoon sun. More encouragement – a hickory sapling sprouting large fragrant buds that he knew would sustain him for a while. He found himself thanking the tree for being available to him like an answered prayer, gingerly removing the nuts and packing some away while biting right in to a few of them. They were incredibly filling and the protein was just what he needed. Daryl may have even smirked to himself a bit. Maybe this was worth it, he thought.

He guessed it had been about 3 miles from his starting point when it looked like things were getting a little less rural. There was a main road running east just a bit ahead, and the trees started to clear out. He got his crossbow at the ready and continued carefully. His focus was much better now and his eyes were everywhere. After so long without spotting a single walker he knew it was any minute now that his luck would turn.

Sure enough.

Just through a clearing, near a tiny log cabin in a state of disrepair was a lone walker. Shriveled head down, barely moving, arms limp and feet shuffling over each other slightly. Slack jawed and in a tattered plaid shirt, it didn’t even get a chance to sniff out Daryl’s living flesh before he buried an arrow deep into its gelatinous membrane. The thing dropped and Daryl took a quick look around to make sure he didn’t stir up any trouble. He lightly stepped towards it and yanked the arrow out of its head. Cleaning it off with a rag, he re-loaded the crossbow. It was then that he heard more movement. He crouched behind a larger oak and remained breathless. A few more creatures came wandering out of the brush, at the moment unaware of his presence. Daryl knew if it was just a handful he could take them on, but where there were a few there was bound to be a lot more. More often than not these days, the dead traveled in packs. It was becoming increasingly rare to find any totally secluded. He peeked over his left shoulder to the direction they were coming but the edge of the cabin was blocking his view. He couldn’t tell how many there were. He grabbed at the large knife on his belt, knowing it was better for close combat.

The walkers were making their way forward on his right without noticing him. He quietly slipped around the left side of the tree to make it to the north side of the little cabin. Maybe he could slip inside and wait it out. Better to not make contact and attract them all if possible. Just as he located the back door and was about to make his move, Daryl heard a shuffling coming from inside the cabin. Not the dead kind, either. It was a scuffle, and it was getting louder. He noticed a walker turning towards the building, gaining suspicion. Then another. He clambered for the door knob and crawled inside the cabin, shutting the door behind him as quietly as he could. He stood up, crossbow aimed at two large walkers who were coming after someone. They must have come in from the smaller back door, which was hanging open. He couldn’t tell clearly enough who it was fighting the things, but it was alive, and struggling to stay that way. The fight was getting noisy and he started to hear walkers approaching the cabin, bumping against the walls trying to get in. He took the first shot and brought down the larger one who fell stupidly into a table that broke in half under its weight. He could see more clearly now that it was a woman, about his height and strong as she was, her weapons had fallen to the floor and she was defenseless. Daryl grabbed the knife back out of his belt again and came up behind the thing, stabbing it right in the skull. It fell to the floor. The woman stood in disbelief, gasping for air, and choked out “who the hell are you?!” a little too loudly. Daryl put a finger to his lips, whispering _“shhhhh!”_

The wall they were closest to had a busted out window and a hole going straight through the rotten lumber below it, and was starting to attract the horde. Daryl pushed the girl to the ground and threw the smaller walker on top of her. He laid down next to her and pulled the other body on top of him. He knew they’d be able to sniff them out with that exposure to the outside, but if they played this right the walkers may lose interest. The girl stared at him terrified and disgusted, but Daryl reached out and put a firm hand over her mouth clearly instructing her to keep quiet. He kept his eyes on the broken window and watched as the monsters growled and groaned and tried to get in. After several minutes, several reaching, rotten hands poked and pried and found nothing, and eventually moved on. They lay under the bodies for quite some time until everything went quiet again. Nothing but the birds and the forest.

Daryl shoved the corpse off and stood up, brushing himself off. He took a minute to locate his knife and crossbow before casually freeing the girl. She popped to her feet and shuddered, as if shaking off the stench of the dead and looked around without knowing what she was looking for, still in shock. There was silence between them.

“Thanks for that…” was all she could come up with to break the ice. Daryl remained quiet and shrugged, heading towards the door. “Wait! Where are you going?” she sounded desperate.

 “I’ll be on my way,” he grumbled.

 “You’re…you’re just gonna leave?”

  He shrugged again. “I ain’t lookin’ to make friends. I’m sure you got some on their way back here and I ain’t gonna be around for small talk.”

 “No..no you don’t get it. I’m it. I was separated from my group a few weeks ago I think, been holed up here ever since. That’s the first of any geeks I’ve seen come through.” She was pleading.

 Daryl paused. “Just you in here?”

“It’s just me. God, I never thought I’d see another LIVE person again. All I have’s a pick axe and a good arm, but yeah. It’s just me.” She was almost out of breath. The prospect of not being alone anymore was too good to let walk away from her like this. Daryl seemed conflicted at the door. He knows what happens in this world now. You make friends and then they die. You have family and they get eaten in front of you. You make a connection with anyone and they get ripped away in no time. There wasn’t time for that anymore, he was better on his own. Without another back to watch out for. But could he really leave her alone like this? He did still have some decency left, no matter how strong the walls he tried to build were. He was hesitating and he hated it.

Daryl peeked out the small window near the door to check on the situation out there. He saw the last walker of the group lumbering away into the woods, out of sight. He walked across the room towards the girl, but straight past her to the broken window and peered out carefully. Things seemed quiet over there too. He stood there for a moment, one hand fiddling with the crossbow he was holding and the other anxiously running through his greasy hair.

“What happened to your group, then? They left you? You got a base I can getcha back to?”

“No, no we were a small group. There was only five of us in a van. On the road the whole time. We kept searching for somewhere larger, more solid. We picked up a kid a way’s back who was talking about this town he knew of, all set up and protected with walls and guards and everything.” Daryl’s interest perked up. Woodbury. “But we lost him not far after he joined up. Stupid shit went too far into the woods to take a piss and we heard the screaming…we knew he was a goner. We just left. Never did figure out where this town he was talking about might be, or if it was even real.”

“It’s real, alright.” Daryl was staring out the window, fixated on a bird searching through leaves for a snack. “Woodbury,” he said plainly as he turned to her. “it’s called Woodbury and it ain’t no place you wanna be.” He stalked across the room back towards the door.

“Oh,” she said, eyes falling to the floor. “Well. I don’t know if the rest of my people wound up there or not. We stopped a few miles back south and some trouble came along, I was inside a shop scavenging for supplies when they got attacked and left me there. I stayed for a while before starting out on my own. Found this dump and…here we are.” She was hoping he had a suggestion for what happens next, but was becoming aware that his plans did not include her. Daryl remained silent for a moment, still meddling with his bow. He knew if he took this girl on, the right thing to do would be to try and head back to the prison. It was probably at least a five day’s walk, but he could find the way. His stomach churned at the thought. This was not his plan when he left that tree.

He sighed. “You got a name?”

She brightened up a bit, hopeful. “Cassie. You?”

“Daryl.” He straightened up in his stance and held his bow a bit tighter, as if revealing his name made him vulnerable to attack and he needed to be at the ready. The opposite happened in Cassie’s body, she finally relaxed and looked relieved to be let in. Maybe this was the next leg of her journey.

“Whatever you got you best grab it now, we’ll be heading back past where you said you came from. I know a place a few day’s walk where we could go.” _Yeah, if they’ll take us,_ he thought to himself. He had no idea how welcoming the group at the prison may be, but part of him was glad at the idea of going back. Maybe being on his own was a death sentence. If he and Cassie could make it back to the prison alive, this might all be okay.


	2. Chapter 2

Daryl waited outside the cabin for a few minutes, chewing his fingernails until Cassie was ready. She came out with her long brown hair pulled back into a braid that appeared to be secured with fishing line at the end. She had a big biker’s backpack slung across her body, pick axe in one hand and a pretty decent walking stick in the other. She looked excited and grateful, and nodded at him to lead the way.

He started by walking up to the road to discern exactly which direction to head in. Cassie came up next to him.

“I came from that way,” she pointed to his left down the empty, winding road.

“Yeah, we’re going back there. But not on the road. We’ll follow the river down in the woods. Safer to be hidden.” Daryl took off into the woods to find the trail, with Cassie swiftly sprinting to catch up.

 A few miles in and so far totally silent. No signs of trouble along the way yet, but they stumbled upon a camp. The tent was pretty torn apart and inside were a couple rotting skeletons. Daryl poked around for any usable supplies, and managed to find half a pack of cigarettes with some matches in the sleeping bag of one unlucky soul.

“It’s a Christmas miracle!” Cassie declared. This almost made Daryl laugh as he lit one in his mouth and passed it over to her. He lit one for himself and they stood enjoying the lost art of smoking for a bit. “I never used to smoke,” she said. “But now whenever I see one of these things…it’s like a little of the world before might still exist, and I feel obligated to have one.” He knew what she meant, but said nothing. They tossed the butts into the former camp fire before moving on.

The sun was starting to set in the sky, dipping below the tree tops now. Daryl liked the idea of trying to find more trees to nest in, but they entered a territory full of mostly long leaf pines, which were tall and skinny, and without any generous offerings of shelter. He stopped and looked around anxiously. There was a spot sort of at the top of a hill that he climbed up into, it was well hidden but also gave a pretty good vantage point from all directions. He figured they could set up a small camp here and get going as soon as dawn broke again. The river was still running below the area he settled on, and on the other side was a thicker expanse of thorny brush. It was fairly protected here. He put his duffle down.

“We stop here for the night. Ain’t gonna get nowhere in the dark and this is a good spot.”

Cassie looked around nervously. “You sure?”

Daryl responded by plopping down in the middle of the trees that gathered there and taking a hickory nut out of his bag to munch on. He took another one and offered it to her. She eyed it suspiciously but took it, nibbled once and her eyes got so wide from the surprising flavor he couldn’t help but laugh at her.

“Damn! This is potent!” she exclaimed, taking another bite.

“Kind of an acquired taste, but it’ll keep you alive,” he said. They snacked in silence until Cassie finally put her things down and sat next to him among their new found camp

“So…did you just figure out all this wilderness survival stuff? Tracking and hunting and all that? You kinda seem like a natural,” she pried. Daryl sighed. He’d been trying to avoid conversation like this because it meant getting close. But they were alone out here and even if the connection only lasted another five minutes before one of them was eaten alive, maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing.

“I grew up doin’ this shit. My brother and I,” he swallowed. “we were on our own a lot. Couple a’ rednecks I guess. I’d been skinnin’ my own meals since I could handle a knife. Used to think of it as boy scout hobby shit. But I guess it came in handy.”

“Sure did. I don’t know much but what I’ve learned is only because of this whole ‘end of the world’ thing. My aim has improved, at least there’s that,” Cassie said, picking at the rest of the hickory bud.

“Naw, you done alright. Out there alone in that cabin for a few weeks? You got potential,” he managed to smile at her. She smiled back proudly, accepting the compliment since it seemed he wasn’t the type to dole them out regularly.

Suddenly there was a scattering of birds. They were picking away at the leaves about a hundred yards to the right and were spooked out of nowhere. Daryl jumped to his feet, crossbow in hand. Cassie sprang up right behind him, pick axe firmly in position.

“You stay here,” he growled at her. She didn’t argue. Daryl approached the area carefully but found nothing. He walked slowly to the river to see farther on the other side. Cassie was jumping from foot to foot, eyes everywhere. Daryl was distracted by something on the far end of the river when she noticed it. A badly maimed, slow moving and silent walker was making its way towards him from behind. She didn’t know where the hell it came from but it was there, sneaking up on him with arms outstretched, mouth gaping wide. First instinct was to yell to him, but knowing that this was probably the first of many coming their way, she shut her mouth and launched into a swift sprint, over logs and dodging trees until she was right on it. She sank her pick axe right into its soft skull right before it got a hold of Daryl, over and over as it fell to the ground. She was on top of it now from behind, continuously hacking into it until she was covered with black, gooey blood and pieces of its brains. Daryl watched, crossbow pointed, in a state of shock and awe. All at the fact that he was almost just killed, how the hell didn’t he see it coming? and wow, this girl’s good.

Cassie stood up out of breath and soaking in debris. “There’s got to be more,” she huffed, looking all around them. They both stalked in the direction it came from and sure enough, two more came clambering towards them. Daryl took out the farthest one with an arrow, and Cassie charged towards the other, swinging and never missing. This one had its guts torn out previously, and happened to fall on top of her, smearing its insides all over her legs before finally checking out. Daryl ripped the arrow from the first one’s head as Cassie climbed out from under the other. They were prepared for more, but apparently that’s all there was for now. They gathered the bodies together on the other side of the hill, out of sight and out of smell. Sweating, adrenaline pumping and covered in muck, Cassie walked back to their camp site and grabbed her bag. She pulled out another set of clothes, something Daryl hadn’t seen in at least a year. The threat had passed for now and she decided to get cleaned up.

While putting together a small, low fire at their camp and smoking one of those prized cigarettes, the sun dipped down even lower. The air was cooling off and the moon was starting to rise. He sat watching the fire flies twinkle around him when he noticed her, down at the river. She was scrubbing her bloody clothes in the water, frequently looking up and keeping her axe at her side. He tried not to see that she was naked, now wading in the water up to her knees. She put the wet clothes on a rock to dry and was now washing herself. It’s not like he hadn’t previously noticed that she was, in fact, attractive, but seeing her like this put a knot in his stomach. How long had it been since he’d even touched a girl? Even before the world went to hell, he wasn’t exactly a lady’s man. He wouldn’t even know how to express an interest. Did he have an interest? He didn’t know. They were still human, weren’t they?

He heard her whistle to him. He looked up like he hadn’t even seen her there and she was waving him over. “Shit,” he thought. She was still insisting he come down to the water. He stood up and grabbing his bow, he trudged down with the cigarette still in his mouth, trying to look all business. When he got to the edge of the water he stood sideways, trying not to look, to give her privacy. He wasn’t sure what she was getting at.

“Hey! How long has it been since you had a bath?! This water is so nice, seriously Daryl it will make all the difference,” she was egging him on now. He continued smoking and looking away.

“Naw, I better be on the lookout. You finish up here. I’ll be….over there,” he pointed back to the fire.

She sighed. “Hard to get, huh?” This confused him greatly. Was this girl nuts? She slowly started rising to her feet out of the water, dripping, naked, and coming towards him. He tensed up and backed away. The moonlight was reflecting off the water now, sending sparkles off of every part of her. He couldn’t deny she was beautiful, but this was too much. His insides churned and he felt like he needed to run. Somehow he stayed frozen.

“Hey… I don’t want to freak you out,” her tone of voice dropped and was so soothing to him. “I know we don’t know each other and you probably don’t even like me. You’re a loner and I’m a burden. But you saved my life this morning. And I think I saved yours not too long ago. Maybe...we can be friends?” She was closer now. He was still holding his bow tightly and was now pressed against a tree. “Daryl..” her voice faded into a whisper. “when’s the last time you were held? Or even touched?” Her hand ran across the side of his face and he closed his eyes. If this were last year, back at the farm, he would have probably knocked her to the ground and rumbled out of there on his motorcycle, swearing the whole way. But he’d been through a lot since then, Sophia, Merle, and even just getting to know Carol had softened him up. Human affection confused him and angered him most of the time. As a kid the only time he got a hug was after his dad’s drunken rage turned to drunken sobbing and repentance. His brain didn’t register love and affection correctly. He was actually now fighting his body to stay put. She was right though, he was still alive, still had wants and needs and was tired of fighting. But he still didn’t move. Her touch was soft and tender and she drew him near, cupping his face in her hands and kissing him. Gingerly at first, since he didn’t reciprocate. But the feel of her lips on his awoke his senses. The next time she came near he kissed back. Harder. Her hands slipped to the back of his head and pulled him in tightly. They were kissing long, deeply, and he used his free hand to pull her body towards him at the waist. The feel of her wet skin was electric on his rough, beaten up hands. He inhaled her breath as she exhaled into him and his knees went weak. He never considered that intimate human contact like this was exactly what he needed.

Daryl suddenly went from very nervous and unsure to extremely turned on. His guard was down. He dropped his crossbow and grabbed her with both hands around her waist, pulling her up. She wrapped her naked legs around him and he moved her onto the soft bed of leaves on the ground next to the water. She was fumbling frantically at his belt buckle and he pulled his dirty, sweat soaked and tattered shirt off. Scattering his clothes, he bent down and slowly kissed up the length of her neck towards her mouth which he kissed so deeply they both let out small moans. Before positioning himself between her legs he paused, looked up and surveyed their surroundings. He then grabbed his crossbow and kept one hand on it next to her head on the ground as he finally pushed himself inside her. Still need to be alert, right?

A while later, Daryl was panting with his head pressed against her chest, trying to slow his breathing while listening to her racing heartbeat. Daryl finally climbed off of her to lay on his back and stare up at the stars. For just that second, his mind was blank. Nothing was there except the feeling of relief, and he almost forgot where he was or what his reality was. He flashed back to a similar experience as a fumbling teenager in the bed of his brother’s pickup truck, which he’d stolen and driven far into the open night to drink too much and blast classic rock with some girl he couldn’t even remember the name of. Carefree and happy, he felt it all flood back.

Cassie curled up next to him and took his hand. It startled him at first, the fact that she still wanted anything to do with him right now. The touch grounded him again and he started clenching his jaw. It wasn’t that he didn’t like her or welcome that intimacy right now, but he was suddenly very aware of their surroundings and how vulnerable they were. Stark naked in the night in the middle of the woods that could be crawling with dead things trying to eat them. Not the most romantic scenario. He sat up quickly and locating his bow, looked around. All was still. He hoped they weren’t too loud but honestly they were so wrapped up in each other, in the moment that they could have been howling and he couldn’t remember through the haze of ecstasy.

She noticed his anxiety and sat up, saying “Maybe we should get dressed and get back to safety,” with a little disappointment in her voice. He turned and looked at her face, which suddenly looked so beautiful to him. She had to have been about thirty. Deep brown eyes shaped like almonds, a long face and rosy cheeks, he didn’t see her this way before. He had to gulp down that feeling it gave him and nodded in agreement. They dressed together in silence, Cassie putting on her clean and dry change of clothes. Weapons in hand, they trudged back to their spot among the trees. She walked ahead of him quickly. As they settled into their spots by the dying fire, she was sitting with quite a distance between them at first. It was an awkward feeling of not knowing how to act, and Daryl decided he was tired of it. He reached over and grabbed her hand, and with a little nod pulled her towards him. She smiled and curled up into his arm, falling asleep with her head on his chest. He kept watch for a long while but the feel of her breathing lulled him to an honest deep sleep. The first he could remember in weeks.

When dawn broke through the trees, a spot of sun shone directly into Daryl’s eyes and startled him awake. He woke up completely disoriented, not remembering where he was at first. He heard rustling in the brush behind him and jumped to his feet with his crossbow aimed, still bleary eyed. He slowly stalked towards the noise. Suddenly Cassie sprang up out of the brush from a crouching position.

“Hey! You’re awake! Check this out, this whole side of the hill is covered in wild blueberries!” She held up a large leaf which she was using as a makeshift basket to collect the berries. Daryl let out a tense breath and dropped his head and bow.

“I almost just shot you, ya know that?”

“Aw shit, sorry,” she winced at the thought. “You were sound asleep and I wanted to have somethin’ tasty for you to wake up to,” she felt badly about scaring him.

He smirked. “Well then you coulda stayed curled up with me,” he retorted. She was worried he’d wake up regretting what happened and be cold towards her, so this warmth put a huge grin on her face. But she didn’t want to push it. She walked past him with her bounty and to him it looked like a plate of sizzling bacon and steaming eggs, he couldn’t resist. He followed her like a little kid to a birthday cake.

The combination of last night’s endorphin release, good sleep, and a belly full of fresh berries to wake up to was putting a spring in Daryl’s step that he hadn’t felt in ages. He wasn’t being his usual gruff self. They laughed together telling stories and picking on each other like school kids. Cassie was so relieved that he seemed to be enjoying her company now.

The morning mist was starting to lift and they took it as a sign to pack up and head out. They still had quite a while to go, but Daryl was starting to feel a lot more confident that their arrival at the prison would be well received. He wanted to know how everyone was fairing, hoped the Woodbury mess had settled down and that there was a grave for the Governor for him to spit on. He missed his brother but he knew the group would be a lot more welcoming without him in tow.

It was about half way through an uneventful day when Daryl spotted the trail that he knew meant they were on the right path. He’d walked it before with Merle, in the opposite direction.

“Aight,” he started. His determination now brought out his inner realist. He stopped and surveyed the path, scratching the hairs on his chin. “The rest of my people are holed up at this prison, it’s a good set up as long as it holds. Are you stickin’ with me? Gonna be part of the group?” he had turned to face Cassie, trying to get a read on her face. Last night was fun and everything but he didn’t know her at all. No way he was putting his friends at risk, and it occurred to him she could have been lying about her whole story. Seducing him to gain something. Wouldn’t be the first time.

Cassie looked at him with a furrowed brow and stammered a bit. “Absolutely,” she said, blinking. “I want to earn my keep. I want to be a part of something. I can’t be out here anymore you know?” He was biting the inside of his lip and fiddling with an acorn in his hand.

“There’s kids there. My family.” He made eye contact and both of them felt the weight of everything in that moment. So much hinged on the truth now. “If there’s trouble followin’ you, you best let me know now.”

“I promise, Daryl. I get it. I’m it and I’m starting over. Gimme a chance, yeah?” Cassie was shifting from foot to foot and uneasy with his sudden suspicion. She knew there was nothing she could say to prove to him she could be trusted. Words didn’t matter much. All she could do was earn a place in whatever future they were searching for.

“Yeah. Yeah let’s go. This path follows the main stretch so it’ll be easy enough to stay hidden and still keep an eye out for a car or somethin’. Stay close aight?” He started off and Cassie trailed behind.


	3. Chapter 3

They walked for hours. Every now and then a walker would start towards them and they tried to conserve energy by ignoring it until they couldn’t. Aside from a couple cars that turned out to be unsalvageable they didn’t find much. During one search Cassie found something she decided she’d save in her bag until the time was right, but said nothing. They trudged on quietly.

“Hey wait, we’re getting close to where I was when I was separated from my group.” She approached the road from the trees and gazed down with her hand shielding her eyes from the sun. It was peak afternoon, maybe about 2, and the sun was blazing. “Yeah, it’s right up there.” She picked up the pace with Daryl coming up behind.

There was a clearing and a gas station/mini mart up ahead. “Shit!” she was running now. “That’s the van! That’s them!” she frantically started checking the windows of the van. Daryl was hissing through his teeth for her to be quiet. He could tell from the tracks all over the ground that she was telling the truth about a herd coming through here not long ago. There were bound to be stragglers. She was about to open the passenger side door to the van when a dead hand banged on the glass and startled her backwards onto the ground. A face approached the glass and moaned towards her. Daryl could tell by her body language that she recognized the corpse.

“Shit. Shit shit shit.” She just laid on the ground with her hands to her face, making no effort to stand. Daryl watched her for a minute and decided to take a look around the premises, make sure they were alone. The perimeter was clear. He walked back over to where she still laid on her back, looking up blankly to the sky. He offered his hand to her and when he got close he noticed a single tear running down the side of her face into her hair.

“That’s Greg.” She said flatly. “We’d been travelling together for a while. He was probably my best friend through all this.” Daryl retracted his hand and looked back at the monster that weakly clawed at the window.

“Let me,” he said. She turned her head and looked confused. “Here, get up. Go in there and try and find somethin’ to eat. I’ll deal with this. We can bury him over there after,” he pointed towards the back of the building.

“Why would you do that? I can handle it.”

“Ain’t no reason why you have to. Stand up. Go inside, it’s clear in there. Find what you can.”

She raised herself to sit up, brushing dirt away from her sides. Taking a deep breath, she stood. She approached the van and put a hand to the glass. “I’ll never get used to this,” she said softly. “Sorry Greg.”

Cassie walked with her axe in hand to the store while Daryl put down her friend. By the time she came back out with a few items –some gum, a handful of match books, a small jar of peanut butter and some candy bars, not bad- Daryl was already preparing an area they could bury Greg. They worked until dusk when finally the hole was decent enough. They covered the body and fashioned a make shift marker. Cassie spoke up quietly.

“This means they came back lookin’ for me. The van and Greg…they came back. And where was I? Holed up in that stupid cabin. I shoulda just came back here. I dunno why I thought they’d really leave. Greg was a good guy. I shoulda known.” She sniffed and wiped her nose on the back of her hand. Standing there for a few moments in silence, Daryl looked Cassie over and decided he’d let her have some space. He went back to the van to see if it could be useful.

Inside wasn’t too gory thankfully, so he cleaned up whatever he could and tried to get it running. It was out of gas and the battery was dead. It was also getting dark out. He was starting to feel anxious. This delay wasn’t in the plans but he had to remind himself that none of this was. Cassie was heading back to him when he popped his head out of the window.

“Nothin’ in there we could use for the van I s’ppose?” he asked.

“Nah, the place was pretty cleared out the first time I came through here. Lucky I found what I did. What’s the plan for tonight?” She was shivering slightly and looking around them for signs of undead life.

“Well I don’t feel much like startin’ out again in the dark. Thinkin’ we try to make the back of this thing comfortable. There’s some blankets and shit under the seat,” he muttered.

“Probably the best bet. Well….good thing I have this I guess!” She pulled out of her bag the prize she recovered from the car a way’s back. It was an unopened bottle of whiskey.

Daryl’s mouth was left agape as he took it from her hand. “No shit, how’d you cop this?”

“I found it in one of the cars back there. Figured I’d save it for a rainy day right? Or a really crappy one like this.”

Daryl turned it over in his hands a few times, thinking. “Better not,” he chewed his lip. “I’m a real ass when I drink.”

“Aw, come on. Just a little. I know we gotta conserve it, I just think a few swigs is in order considering…” Cassie trailed off while looking back to Greg’s grave.

“Yeah, yeah. Won’t hurt.” Daryl unscrewed the cap and took the first big gulp, wincing as he swallowed and handed it to Cassie. She laughed at his grimace and followed suit, taking a large swig.

“To Greg!” she raised the bottle to the air and climbed into the van.

Daryl put the car in neutral and rolled it closer to the brush, out of the way of the road and slightly covered at least on one side. They’d be good for the night.

A while later about a quarter of the bottle was gone without them realizing it. Daryl had laid out the pile of blankets in the back and was stretched out on his back smoking a cigarette. Cassie was sitting up eating peanut butter with her finger and snorting about it.

“This is so gooooood!” she was giddy drunk and kicked Daryl in the side, trying to offer the peanut butter to him. “Seriously Daryl this will keep me going all night.” As soon as it was out of her mouth she realized how it sounded and even Daryl turned with raised eyebrows at the statement. “Stop, you know what I mean,” she playfully kicked him again.

“Yeah I think I do,” he said in between puffs and a little chuckle. Daryl couldn’t deny that he liked Cassie’s company. She was lighthearted and kind but also competent. She could hold her own and didn’t stress him out. He had no idea what was between them – last night in the woods just sort of happened. He knew from experience that getting physical so quickly was usually certain doom for any relationship. He wasn’t expecting anything to develop here. But if this life had taught him anything it was that living in the moment was all anyone could do. You can’t pretend you have the time for anything anymore. They could get kidnapped or overrun any minute. You had to take each breath slowly now. In this moment with his pleasant buzz, he decided not to think about what, if anything, was happening between them too much.

Cassie packed the peanut butter away for now and reached for the whiskey again. She laid down next to him and joined him in staring up at the white metal roof of the van.

“Do you ever get scared out here Daryl? Like…we’re just in the back of a van that’s exposed on a road right now. It’s dark. Them things could be crawling around lookin’ for us you know? Makes me feel pretty vulnerable.”

He sighed. “So I guess you get chatty when you drink,” he grumbled. She elbowed him in the side and reached out for the cigarette to steal a drag.

“I’m sorry about last night,” she continued. “I know I was jumping the gun on us…or whatever…but I couldn’t help it. Caught up in the moment I guess.” She passed the cigarette back to him and he paused, twirling it in his fingers.

“Moments are all we got. Don’t be sorry. Not like I minded much,” he said with a smirk. He stubbed the butt out on the cold steel wall next to him. Cassie sat up and removed her sweatshirt to tuck behind her head as a pillow. When she laid back down Daryl stole a glance of her figure with a side-eye. She exhaled heavily and closed her eyes, feigning trying to fall asleep. She was wearing a tattered green tank top under that sweatshirt and he watched her chest rise and fall for a few moments. There were smudges of dirt across her bare skin and the hint of cleavage he saw looked sweaty. He suddenly caught himself having to gulp back whatever feeling was rising in his chest. It was something instinctual.

“I thought you said you were an ass when you drink. Turns out you’re just boring,” Cassie said, eyes still closed and a drunken, playful smile across her face. Daryl sat up and took a huge, long swig of the whiskey before putting the cap back on and stowing it away in her bag.

“Borin’? Pfff,” he scoffed. Something about what she said felt like a challenge, and his blood was running hot enough now to accept. He waivered there for a moment on his knees, staring at her. She finally cracked her eyes a bit and when she saw him hovering over her like that they got wide. “Daryl…?” she started.

He practically growled at her, “Take off your clothes.”

“Wait what? Really? I didn’t scare you off last night..?” she sat up a bit but he didn’t budge.

“I said take your damn clothes off.” His greasy hair hung into his face and his chest was heaving. He glared at her with nothing but lust and liquid confidence pouring out of him. She grinned a huge grin and bit her lip. Obeying his orders, she lifted her dirty tank top off and over her head. He pulled on the center of her sweat-stained bra, right in between her cleavage with an index finger and grunted. She reached behind her and undid the clasp, letting her breasts fall forward into the space between them. Cassie looked up at him with doe eyes, waiting eagerly for whatever was to come next. He took in the sight of her while he undid his belt buckle and released his belt from the loops. He tossed it to the side and then grabbed her by the chin with one hand, pulling her face up to his. She moaned slightly as he forcefully parted her lips with his tongue and kissed her deeply. He pulled her face away and gently wiped his spit away from her lips with a thumb while he looked her in the eye. He released her face and nodded towards the blankets. “Lie down.”

Daryl unfastened the buttons on her jeans and ripped them off her body. He spread her legs for her and never taking his gaze from hers, pulled the crotch to her underwear to the side.

“Be quiet now,” his southern drawl was stronger now with the liquor coursing through his veins. He could hear his heartbeat in his head and felt flushed. But he was in control. He felt powerful and aggressive. Her breathing had quickened and it turned him on even more. He leaned down over her, close to her face. As he plunged two fingers deep inside and she let out a small cry, he covered her mouth with his filthy hand and soothed her close to her ear: “ _shhhhhh_ , I said quiet.” He gingerly moved his fingers in and out and watched her eyes roll back in her head. He could feel her breath against the palm of his hand and when she started rocking her hips in rhythm to his hand, he purred to her softly, “good girl.”

When he couldn’t take it anymore he pulled her underwear off swiftly. Getting his own pants off in the cramped space was a little tricky, and he laughed as he almost fell over from the booze working its magic. Cassie used the opportunity to reach back into her bag and pull out a condom.

“I’ve had these in here for a while, held onto em forever wonderin’ if I’d ever need em. No offense Daryl, I like you and everything but I ain’t gonna be having your apocalyptic babies,” she giggled a bit. The night before was a close call but he’d managed to not finish inside her. She needed to know he was with her. If this was going to become a regular thing, there would be no risk taking. He took it from her hand and ripped it open with his teeth.

“Damn straight,” he grumbled. He put the condom on and without hesitation buried the length of himself inside her. She gasped and dug her fingernails into his back. He winced momentarily at the thought of her feeling the deep scars on his back but shook it out of his mind. The whiskey took over and he completely let loose. This time there was no holding back, no inhibitions. They gave their bodies to each other fully. Their orgasms were intense and left them breathless. Daryl was left on top of her, head buried into her chest. They were sticky from sweat and grime. He lifted himself up to look into her face and his arms were shaking. Something happened in that moment. They locked eyes and both felt almost confused. It was electric. He kissed her hard before collapsing in a heap and drifting off to sleep. Cassie laid there awake a little longer, brushing her fingers through his hair. She could see the stars from the back window of the van and the peace was overwhelming.


	4. Chapter 4

Just before dawn, before the sun was above the trees yet and the crickets were still chirping, Cassie awoke with a start. She was naked but covered in a blanket and alone. She heard rustling against the side of the van and her heart started racing. She quickly threw her bra and sweatshirt on, followed by her pants and boots. She located her axe and peered out the back window. She heard more movement against the van. She gulped and slowly turned the handle to open the back doors. When the latch clicked and the door creaked open, Daryl’s head popped from around the corner to greet her.

“Jesus!” she exclaimed. “Don’t scare me like that!” She jumped out the back.

“Sorry, I was tryin’ not to wake ya,” he muttered.

“What are you up to?” she peeked at what he was doing. “Gas? You found some?”

“Mmhm. The way back room of that place still had a few cans kickin’ around. This too.” He held up a new car battery like a kid showing of the catch he waited all day for at the lake. Cassie squealed and clapped. “Be there by the end of the day I reckon.”

“Amazing. Should I head down to the river before we get goin’? I could use some water. My head is uh…feeling last night a little bit,” she rubbed her temples slightly and he scoffed.

“We’ll go together. Feelin’ a little rough myself.” Daryl cleared his throat awkwardly. “But good. Real good.” He looked over at her through his hair and gave her a smirk. He felt a little crazy. They’ve known each other for two days. Two days! They’ve already had sex twice and he felt something boiling at the pit of his stomach for her. She’s a stranger, he tried to tell himself. The sex is great but don’t trick yourself into thinking it’s something it ain’t. It’s almost like he could hear Merle giving him a lecture about it. What, are you so lonely? So desperate for human contact, baby brother? It made him furrow his brow as he worked on getting the new battery set up. She was in his peripheral vision going through her big bag. What the hell is in that thing? Seems to be quite a collection in there, she’s always pulling something useful out. A big bag of tricks. Made him think there was a lot more to her. A lot to learn. He watched as she popped a piece of gum in her mouth and caught his eye.

“Want one?” she motioned the package towards him and shook it a bit. “Almost feels like brushing in the morning again,” she smiled.

“Tryin’ to say somethin’?” he joked. She rolled her eyes and tossed the package back into her bag. Daryl set down his tools momentarily and sauntered over to her, reached into her bag and, never breaking eye contact, got himself a piece of the gum and popped one into his mouth. “Happy?” he grumbled at her and moved closer. She stood confidently and never wavered as he started to bend slightly and go for her mouth. Just as he was about to plant a kiss on her lips he saw movement from the woods across the road.

            “Shit,” he mumbled, reaching into the back of the van for his bow.

            “I got it,” she grabbed her pick axe and marched over to the wretched creature. Its tattered clothes were stained and falling off of its rancid body. Half of its face was missing and the rotten teeth were chomping towards her. Without hesitation she brought her axe down into the soft skull of the walker and used her right foot to kick it away and release the weapon. It fell with a heavy, wet thud. She shook the blood and gore off her axe and turned around to shrug at Daryl, as if to say, “piece a’ cake!” He was too busy admiring her and swallowing back that gnawing feeling in his gut to notice the trees behind her shaking once again. He quickly straightened up and armed himself with his bow. Cassie heard the rustling from the woods and spun around to see about a dozen walkers stumbling towards them.

            “Get back!” he growled at her and released a bolt into one of the dead ones closer to Cassie. The adrenaline was pumping now. Cassie swung her axe into the skull of the next one. Another fell towards her feet with its arms stretched out, reaching and clawing. With all her might she stomped the rotten brains in with her foot. Daryl was stabbing one coming for him with the arrow he had just pulled from the skull of the first when Cassie looked up and noticed more, at least fifteen, responding to the noise and heading their way from the woods.

            “Daryl we gotta jet, go get that battery working! I’ll deal with this as I can, we gotta go!” She kept swinging and making contact wherever she could. Daryl hesitated, he didn’t want to leave her fighting like this. But it was apparent she could hold her own. He bolted back to the van and threw all of their gear and the gas cans into the back. He raced under the hood and struggled to get the connections on the battery right.

            “Come on, come on mother fucker,” he cursed under his breath. The final settings were in place and he looked over to Cassie who was still fighting the dead off with stealth and ease. He reached over to the ignition through the passenger side and held his breath as he turned the key. To his relief the engine turned over and came to life.

            “Fuck yeah!” he exclaimed. “Cass! Come on!” he called out to her as he jumped into the driver’s seat. Cassie took out one last walker with her axe before racing back to the van and jumping in, eyes wide, heart pounding, huffing with adrenaline.

            “Drive! Go!” she yelled. Daryl pulled the van out of the brush covering. They had to go straight through the crowd of dead to stay in the right direction, so he swerved as best he could and put the gas pedal to the floor. They stirred up a cloud of dust as the tires screeched and they put distance between them and the dead. Daryl was still heaving with energy and Cassie watched the mini mart where they buried her friend disappear behind them. She exhaled long and deeply, trying to regain composure.

            “Nice wake up call, huh? Good morning!” she laughed. Daryl looked over and wiped some congealed blood off of Cassie’s brow for her. He then pulled a cigarette out of his pocket, lit it in his mouth and passed it over.

            “You deserve this,” he said. “That was some shit back there. I’m impressed.”

Cassie couldn’t help smiling to herself. “I guess practice has paid off. Fuckers gunked up my boots though, yuck,” she said looking down at her soiled doc martens. Daryl laughed.

            “You’re a badass.” He held out his fist and let it hang there until she pounded it. They both laughed and shared the cigarette as they drove far into the distance. The prison wasn’t much farther. They were going to make it.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_Obviously the next part deviates from the time line of the original story. Stick with me here._

Daryl was keeping his eye on the road and mostly listening to Cassie ramble. She told him stories of her childhood growing up in northern Florida, talked a bit about the beginning of the outbreak, and, as he liked it, didn’t ask questions. Until now.

“Alright Daryl, very important question here.” He gave her a suspicious side eye.

“Shoot, I guess.”

“When’s your birthday?” He paused. He hadn’t thought about anything like that in a long time. He supposed he’d already missed two of his birthdays without even noticing.

“January.”

“Okay….January what?” she prodded.

“The sixth.” Cassie winced and shook her head wearily.

“Capricorn? For real? That’s a shame.” She looked out the window still shaking her head.

“What the fuck is a Capricorn?” he scoffed.

“Your astrological sign! Ugh, you’re a cap. I’m a Scorpio. Never had much luck with your kind. But, it does explain the uh…sexual chemistry,” she said with a grin.

“Sounds like a bunch a’ bullshit,” he grumbled.

“Don’t be mean! I believe in this stuff. I’ll tell ya all about it sometime. I have a pretty cool book in my bag that I’ll make you study when we have some down time at this prison or whatever,” she sounded hopeful. She was looking to the future. It made him happy how excited she was.

“Sure got a lotta useful shit in that bag of yours,” he decided to press about it a little.

“Yeah, girls know how to pack I guess,” she wasn’t sure what he was getting at. “I pick up everything. Never know what you might need. Do you wanna check through it or somethin’? I’ll show you everything one by one right now if you want.”

“Naw, just sayin’. You seem to have somethin’ for every occasion in there,” he shrugged it off and hoped she’d drop it.

“Well lucky for you, Daryl. There’s even a few more condoms,” she nudged his arm playfully and he chuckled. He definitely felt like he could trust her. She didn’t give him any reason not to. He could tell she was telling the truth about what happened at the mini mart, getting separated from her group. It was obvious that Greg had an effect on her when they found him there. But where was everyone else? There weren’t any other bodies lying around the area. He had made a mental note of that. She said there were five of them. Greg and her made two. There were three unaccounted for. Anything could have happened, he supposed. Whatever happened after she got separated…it’s not like he could hold it against her. She really did seem trust worthy. And maybe he was trying to talk himself out of the feeling that was growing inside of him for her. After all, everyone dies in the end anyways. Walls up, Dixon. Get it together.

“Besides,” she started, her tone getting more serious. “I’m the one who should be suspicious. You could be leading me to certain doom with this prison scheme.” She glanced at him side ways to gauge his reaction to her statement.

“You ain’t wrong,” he retorted. “Guess all we can do is trust each other.” Silence fell between them. Cassie pulled a worn out leather journal from the back pocket of her jeans and started drawing something with a pencil about two inches long. Daryl peeked over.

“Birds?” he pried.

“It’s a phoenix. You know like…phoenix from the flames? Rising out of the ashes?” she continued sketching while Daryl shrugged. “It’s symbolism. Supposed to be a metaphor for rising above life’s struggles. It’s kind of a picture I like to keep in my head through all this.”

Daryl looked her over while she was drawing. _God, she is beautiful_. He thought to himself. _I am so screwed_.

Something in the distance caught his eye. He knew they were closing in on the prison, probably about a mile off. He even spotted one of the trees that him and Rick had marked with a large gouge to signify a back route. He was almost home…but something was off. Rising above the tree line was a black cloud of billowing smoke. He slowed the van to a halt and paused, watching the smoke pour into the sky.

“No…” panic set in. “No no no no no…” he trailed off as he threw the van into park and jumped out, grabbing his bow. His sudden actions startled Cassie from the creative zone she was lost in.

“Hmm? What? What’s going on?” she came back to reality and tossed her journal aside, leaping out to join Daryl on the road. His hands were on the sides of his head in exasperated disbelief. She pointed towards the black cloud and said:

“Is that…the prison?”

“Grab everything you need from the van. Arm yourself. Keep your eyes open. Follow me.” He barked his orders and Cassie swiftly obeyed. She saw the look of dread on his face and knew this was bad. Really bad.

The pair dove into the woods, following a path that Daryl knew to be the back way to the main gate. His pace was hard for Cassie to keep up with but she didn’t complain, she kept her mouth shut and did her best. On the horizon she saw the trees starting to clear and what looked to be a huge fence. The smell of sulphur and smoke was getting stronger as they grew closer. There was a small embankment they had to climb in order to get a good look at the prison yard, and when they did the scene was breath taking.

Cassie stood next to Daryl as they took a moment to survey what was in front of them. A large military tank was laying across the now caved-in main gate to the prison. Bodies lay asunder everywhere, littering the yard. A minimal amount of walkers still roamed aimlessly. What happened here was a war. This was clearly a battle and Daryl’s prison family had lost. The lookout tower was blown to pieces and that’s where the majority of the smoke was still looming out of. Other small fires still burned. The crops were destroyed. There were no signs of life.

Daryl fell to his knees.

Cassie could only imagine what was lost here. He hadn’t told her much about the people here but she knew enough. Enough to understand how devastating this was for him.

“GOD DAMMIT!” he shouted, hurling his bow into the dirt before him. Cassie was all for verbally expressing frustration, but there were enough walkers around here, drawn to the action to become a problem if they caught a whiff of them. She looked around nervously.

“I shoulda been here! I could have helped!” he was angrily choking back sobs. Cassie allowed his anger to wash over him without offering any words. There was nothing she could say. Daryl rose to his feet. “I gotta see if anyone is in there, I gotta be sure,” he picked up his bow and marched towards the fence.

“Daryl wait! There’s too many of ‘em in there, I’m not sure it’s worth-“

“Hell yeah it’s worth it! That’s my family. I left ‘em and that bastard came back for ‘em. I never shoulda left and now we’re fucked, all of us,” he was still walking angrily away, shouting. Cassie was confused. Who did this? He neglected to tell her about any big bad out there waiting to take this place. Fact is, he thought he had more time. He had no idea the Governor would retaliate against them so quickly. It had been a few weeks since their raid on Woodbury and when he left with Merle, but speaking purely in a tactical sense, he thought the Governor was more of the type to bide his time.

“Look, I understand,” she caught up to him and put a hand on his shoulder. He stopped to hear what she had to say. “I understand that you gotta see for yourself. But let’s make a plan, yeah? I don’t think marching in there through the front is best. What if whoever did this is in there still? What if there’s too many geeks? Let’s take a minute to think.”

Why did she have to make sense right now? Daryl operated on impulse, as a rule. Especially where emotion was involved. He sighed and bit his lip.

“Aight, there’s a side entrance over there. We can slip in and take a look around. Don’t look like anyone’s up in any towers so just keep your eyes open. We’ll judge the number of walkers when we’re inside. If there’s no sign of anything or anyone, we’ll head back to the van.” He slipped his knife out of the sheath on his belt. Cassie tried to smile.

“Sounds good. I’m with you.”

The two of them stealthily wound around the side fence and peered into the inner courtyard. Daryl flashed back to target practice with Beth here. He taught her how to shoot at glass jugs. He remembered Carol setting up rain barrels on the other side and shamelessly flirting with him. He remembered watching Maggie and Glenn climb down that watch tower, stifling back sheepish grins each morning. He clenched his jaw and shook it all from his mind. None of it mattered anymore.

“When did this happen?” Cassie whispered over his shoulder. He shrugged.

“Couldn’t have been more than a few days ago. Fires like that will burn for a long time but there’s still a feeding frenzy goin’ on. Kinda hard to say.”

The walkers were mainly gathered in the far corner near the A block entrance. He figured they’d know all they needed to know by investigating around here quickly, so he slid into the court yard and Cassie followed close. His eyes were everywhere. This was a massacre. Blood stained the concrete in all directions. Most of the bodies lying around were unidentifiable, so he was looking for telltale items. Rick’s watch, maybe. Or Carl’s hat. Anything to tell him for sure who was alive or dead. He didn’t see anything. The bus was gone. Maybe they got out alive?

Looking towards the grassy area where the crops once grew, a group of walkers were feasting on someone. He needed to see without giving them away, without being in the open. He muttered, mostly to himself, “I wonder who that is.”

Cassie nudged him and when he turned she was holding a pair of binoculars. He couldn’t help scoffing. “You and that damn bag, girl.” He took them from her and took a deep breath before glimpsing to the figure on the ground being mauled like a zebra by a pack of lions. All he could make out was an eye patch and a sense of relief came over him. _God damn right_ , he thought. _Rot in hell_. He continued glancing around and stopped when he came to a lifeless figure on the outside of the gate. It appeared to be missing a head but he could tell from the suspenders….yeah. It was Hershel. He hung his head and muttered, “fuck.”

There was nothing else to go on out here, not without stirring up a mess of trouble for themselves. In their immediate vicinity they located a few useful pistols, and Daryl managed to make it to the outdoor ammo storage for some essentials. They quietly slipped back out and down to the path back to the van. They tossed everything in and once the doors slammed shut, sat in silence. Cassie felt like she should say something, but didn’t want it to be wrong.

            “I-I’m so sorry. I don’t know what to say.” She looked down and fiddled with the hem of her sleeve. “So…what now?”


	5. Chapter 5

Daryl sat for a long time, thinking. Cassie had about a million questions but knew now wasn’t the time to press. After a while Daryl turned the key in the ignition.

“I gotta try to find them,” he said finally. “There was a bus, we kept it around in case something like this happened. The bus wasn’t there so they might have made it out. We had a rendezvous spot set up. That’s where I gotta check first.” He waited a moment, gauging whether or not Cassie would try to protest. She knew she wouldn’t be able to stop him even if she wanted to, so she just silently nodded her agreement. They started driving forward and as they passed the main entrance to the prison, Daryl willed himself not to look back.

They drove in silence for quite a while. It probably felt longer than it was because the tension in the air was palpable. Cassie watched as Daryl’s eyes scanned the woods for signs of anything. She saw him clenching and unclenching his jaw, chewing on the inside of his cheek. It was suddenly so clear to her how much this guy internalized. Something told her he was once the type to spit and curse and behave like a delinquent, but major trauma had taken a toll on them all by this point. It would be hard to crack him open for sure.

Part of him wished they were on foot, he wanted to be able to track and piece together what happened. Cassie kept an eye out on her side too, but besides the occasional lurking corpse, she didn’t see anything.

Their progress came to a halt when the road was blocked by fallen trees and other broken down vehicles. Cassie sighed as Daryl shut off the engine and began gathering his things.

“Better to be on foot anyway,” he muttered and exited the van. Cassie went through the van one last time to check for anything they’d need and crammed what she could into her bag, which dug at her shoulder. She stifled the discomfort and trudged along after the sullen archer.

“Shouldn’t we at least maybe stay with the van for the night? It’s already almost dusk,” she huffed after him, trying to catch up.

“Naw, we’ll camp. We need the cover.” He was definitely in his head, silently inspecting broken branches and looking for skid marks in the dirt, foot prints, anything. The designated rendezvous spot for the prison bus had already come and gone without a sign, but he hadn’t said anything about it as they passed out of fear Cassie would talk him out of continuing his search. His family had to be out here somewhere. No way Rick Grimes didn’t make it out of that, he kept telling himself.

When it started to get too dark for him to make anything out clearly they set up camp. There was a small clearing that was pretty well surrounded by brush and anything coming close to them would make enough noise to tip them off in advance. Cassie built a small fire while Daryl sat and cleaned his bow. She could tell there wasn’t going to be any small talk or funny business tonight, so she decided to let him brood for a bit on his own. Making a makeshift bed for herself next to the fire, Cassie laid down and began to drift off.

A short while later she woke to the sound of him rummaging through her things. She watched him quietly through slits for eyes as he located the bottle of whiskey and began pacing around the camp site, frequently taking large gulps and becoming increasingly agitated. She heard him start to mumble to himself, cursing and spitting with each intake of alcohol. She was startled as he started to pour some of it onto the fire, raising the flames considerably.

“Jesus, Daryl…coulda warned me,” she scooted herself back as the heat reached her face and made her cough. Daryl continued drinking and pacing without acknowledging her. “We should save some of that don’t you think? Could be useful...” her words did not reach him. She rose to her feet and tried to approach. She softly touched his bicep and he flinched, yanking his arm away and practically growling.

“Don’t fuckin’ touch me,” he spat. Unbeknownst to him, Cassie had had her fair share of dealing with violent drunks. It didn’t scare her anymore. She knew when to back off and she knew when to push, and her intuition told her this wasn’t anger coming from him, but fear. She knew he wouldn’t hurt her. But she had to talk him down before any commotion attracted unwanted attention.

“I know it hurts, Daryl…I know what you’re going through. We’ve all lost something, and it never seems to get easier.”

Daryl scoffed and approached her, close to her face, breath reeking of booze and practically hissed through his teeth, “You have no fuckin’ idea what I’ve lost.”

Cassie did not flinch. He backed away and looked at her in near disbelief. “You got no idea about anything!” he continued. “You don’t know shit about me, or what I’m going through,” he used air quotes to mock her.

“That’s cute, Daryl,” she tried to stifle her confident smirk. “The apocalypse happens, the dead rise and tear the living to bits and pieces, we’re out here in the woods with nothing and you’re gonna get drunk and act like you’re the only one whose lost people,” she shook her head, nearly laughing. “You know what it takes to survive, yeah, but you’re also kind of a dumbass.”

With that statement she plopped herself back down next to the fire. Daryl had stopped to look her over. “Just quit being so god damn loud about it before you attract ‘em and I have to leave you here, drunk and unable to fight ‘em off.” She made fierce eye contact with him for a moment before laying down and closing her eyes again. Daryl’s blood was suddenly boiling. He wasn’t used to being stood up to like that, to being shut down so confidently. He didn’t know whether to start a fight or break down crying. He picked the former.

Marching over to her, he kicked the boots on her feet. “Get up!” he snarled.

Unblinking, she rose to her feet and faced him. “I guess you are an ass when you drink,” she folded her arms across her body. She clearly wasn’t going to be taking his shit and he didn’t quite know what to do about it.

“You tryin’ to test me, woman?”

Cassie snorted. “Don’t even try to pretend, Daryl, just don’t.”

“Pretend what?” he huffed.

“That you’re gonna hit me, or that you’re gonna show me my place, or scare me into submission. You can stop. I’ve seen it all before. I have a crooked septum to prove it. You don’t scare me.” She inched towards him as she spoke. “You can be angry. You can get mean. You can chug whiskey and act like some aggressive redneck but I think I know enough about people and maybe even about you to know that it’s all empty. It’s a show. And I’ll be right here to watch it if you want, but you’re not gonna scare me away. I can hold my own and I will if I have to but I guarantee you you ain’t even gonna try it.” He wasn’t sure if she was trying to push him to snap or if she meant what she said, but she never faltered and Daryl wasn’t used to this. He sheepishly hung his head and crept away slightly.

“Why are you still here? Why are you stickin’ around anyways?” he muttered.

“Two heads are better than one, right?” her tone softened. “You saved me Daryl, I think we make a good team. I want to help you find your people, we need people. It’s the only way.”

“I never shoulda left,” he said weerily.

“Why did you?” Cassie was ready for some answers now.

“My brother, I thought my brother was dead. Come to find he was livin’ in this town, the place you were talkin’ about. Woodbury. The guy who ran the place was…he was a bad guy. He’s the one who attacked my people. Wanted to take the prison. I left my people when I found my brother. Then he tried to eat me…and I was alone. I never shoulda left.”

When Daryl raised his face to her she could see how wet his eyes were and there was a slight tremble in his lip. She reached for him, and he tossed the bottle of whiskey down before embracing her tightly. They stood for a while, entwined and breathing each other in.

“You need a fuckin’ bath, Daryl,” they both started laughing and collapsed together before the fire. She let him fall asleep while she stayed up for a while to keep watch. As she quietly gazed at him, inspecting various scars on his arms and callouses on his hands, the weather-worn skin around his eyes and cheeks and the tattered clothes he must have been wearing for a year or more, she found herself swallowing the same feeling he choked back before. She felt something for this broken man and it was starting to hurt.


	6. Chapter 6

Disoriented and parched, Daryl awoke hours later when dusk was about to break to a familiar and menacing sound. The light skewed his vision and his bleary eyes couldn’t make much out, but he knew he heard it right – the distinct click of the hammer on a pistol, being cocked mere inches from his face.

“Cass…?” he managed to whisper weakly, trying to shield the light from his eyes. The form of a gruff, older man managed to materialize before him, and he heard low laughter.

“Oh is that her name?” the figure toyed. Daryl scrambled to his feet but another man scooped up his bow before he could reach for it.

“What’s going on?” the scene before him started to come together. Two men in the back were holding Cassie tightly, her wrists bound with a zip tie and a rag stuffed in her mouth. Her eyes were pleading and she was breathing heavily but she didn’t struggle. The man behind Daryl was pointing a gun at his head and the man in front of him lowered his. He started to grin, showing stained teeth and an eerie expression.

“Good morning, sunshine! Just your friendly neighborhood watch passing through, keeping tabs on the goings on. Things got a little heated around here last night so we just wanted to make sure all was well,” the man bantered on while Daryl weighed his options. He had his knife down the back of his pants, but their firearms were packed away in Cassie’s bag. They clearly weren’t here to make friends. Daryl tried to straighten up and compose himself. His head ached from the night before and he still couldn’t think straight.

“The name is Joe,” the man kept smiling and it was igniting the rage inside of Daryl. “And you?”

“Not important. Hand back the girl and maybe I’ll be up for chit chat,” Daryl replied.

The group of men erupted into laughter.

“I know, I know, a pretty young thing like this is hard to come by these days,” Joe said, motioning to Cassie. “That’s why we’ll be takin’ her along with us, friend. Don’t worry, she’ll be kept fed and uh, somewhat clothed,” more laughter from the men as Cassie closed her eyes and tried to breathe.

“So…you been watchin’ us? For how long?” Daryl tried to keep him talking, stall as much as he could.

“Oh not long, not long. Long enough to know you don’t know much about how to talk to a lady. Not nice to get drunk and start cursin’. Didn’t your mama teach you anything, son?” Joe was definitely trying to push Daryl’s buttons. “No matter, the young lady will be comin’ with us. You’re welcome to take part, if you feel much like it but I reckon we ain’t off to that kind of start, are we?” Joe stepped closer as he made crystal clear to Daryl what the plan was.

“Listen, no one needs to get hurt here. Let her go and we’ll part ways. You can have our supplies,” Daryl attempted negotiation.

“Daryl, is it? I think I heard the lady callin’ you that last night. Daryl, a man has needs, you know what I mean? It’s tough luck for a gal like this but it’s the way it is. You see, she’s been claimed. That’s our code. Whatever gets claimed is not up for debate. Surely you can understand.” Joe was practically whispering next to Daryl’s ear and he reached his limit. He tried to catch Joe off guard by slugging him right there and then. His left hook connected with the right side of Joe’s face and sent him stumbling backwards. In a flash the other man was on top of Daryl, unleashing his fists upon his face, his stomach, his entire body. Daryl’s lip and eyebrow were bleeding when Joe, rubbing his jaw, stepped forward and motioned for his accomplice to get off him. He held Daryl down with one foot to the chest and looked him square in the eye. Daryl could make out in his peripheral that Cassie was struggling now, her screams muffled by the rag in her mouth.

“Shucks, Daryl. And I really thought we could be friends.” Joe inflicted several hard blows with his steel toe boots to Daryl’s side and he could feel his ribs cracking. He couldn’t catch his breath, the searing pain ripped through him and blood ran into his eyes from the lacerations on his face. He barely heard Joe call out, “Let’s get a move on fellas. Our new friends don’t feel much like playin’ today.”

And with that they dragged Cassie away, kicking and attempting to scream while they laughed and taunted her.

Daryl struggled to stand, they disappeared into the forest before he could get his bearings. He was panting and holding back angry tears, trying to plan his next move.

“Cass! _Cassieeeee_! I’m comin’ for ya! Hang on, girl,” he tried to yell to her through choking sobs.

Daryl frantically tried to catch his breath and assess the situation. He still had his knife. Cassie’s bag was on the ground, he sifted through it and located one of the guns they took from the prison and attached the silencer before slipping it into inside of his leather jacket. He briefly looked through the rest of her bag. Matches, figured he might as well have those on hand. You never know. He slung her bag around his body with a wince, made sure his weapons were at the ready, and pushed the pain in his side out of his mind.

They had a lead on him but he was hot on their trail. He ignored the anger that told him to just march up there and kill every last one of them. He had to play this well. Surely they would kill her if he came on too strong and wasn’t careful. As he looked for signs in the trails he developed a plan in his head.

First, he decided to fall back a bit on purpose. He had to keep a healthy distance between him and them if he was going to remain stealthy. He had them on his radar for sure, so he’d follow them all day and wait for the cover of night to make any moves.

Next, he had to consider what their set-up might be like. Did they have a camp? Staying in a house? Maybe there’s a whole lot more of them with guards and everything and then he’d be fucked. He ran every possibility through his head as he limped along, keeping an eye out for anything useful. He carefully approached the road at the edge of the woods and scanned the immediate area. No tire tracks. Guess they weren’t on wheels. If they were on foot it stood to reason that they were taking Cassie back to somewhere fairly close by. He detected some shuffle-marks in the dirt, a group of them, with one particular set looking much deeper and more frantic than the others.

Cassie.

With a deep breath Daryl shifted his weight and trudged on, determined.

He walked for about an hour, undeterred. The few walkers he encountered were easy enough to dispatch with a blade to the skull, even if the act sent lightning bolts of pain throughout Daryl’s side. The pain was becoming easier to ignore as he could sense he was getting closer. When he approached what looked to be a long, winding, dirt driveway he stood for a moment gazing down its length, chewing his lip and listening. He heard very, very faint shouting and some sort of commotion. _Down this drive is probably where they at_ , Daryl mumbled out loud to himself. He armed himself properly with the silenced weapon and dipped into the woods heading toward the noise.

Barely breathing and completely distracted from his pain now, Daryl crept through and between trees with stealth and precision. Each foot step was placed just so, never breaking a twig or stirring a leaf. The hunter in him was alive. Before his eyes he saw a dilapidated log house with a wrap-around farmer’s porch appear in the distance. Peering from behind a large tree at a safe distance, he noted three large tents set up in the right side of the property. A broken down pick-up truck with its engine torn apart and strewn about laid towards the left. Clearly a project in the works. He saw Joe standing on the porch, smoking a cigarette and discussing something with another man, and he heard more of that commotion coming from the inside of the house. A tall, fat, balding man came stumbling out of the door clutching his face with blood pouring out between his fingers.

“God dammit! That _bitch_!” the man exclaimed. Joe was roaring with laughter and smacked him on the back.

“I told ya, she’s feisty! I think we should let her settle more before we have our fun. She only just arrived, Mac, it’s only polite,” Joe laughed some more and shook his head. “She’s a part of us now so there ain’t no rush. Go wash your stupid fuckin’ face up and leave ‘er alone.” Joe handed him a rag.

The fat man trudged off into one of the tents alone. Daryl swallowed hard and couldn’t help but feel proud of Cassie for fighting so hard. He pictured her alone, tied up, gagged, naked, bleeding, everything awful that could pop into his mind, did. It was killing him. He had no idea how he would actually pull off rescuing her but it occurred to him that he was absolutely ready to die trying. He’d lost Rick, Carol, Hershel, Maggie, Glenn, everyone he cared about. He’d lost his brother. He didn’t even have his motorcycle anymore for Christ’s sake. If he couldn’t get Cassie out of this hell then he would gladly lay down and offer his throat to Joe’s knife. Whatever happened, he had to try. Cassie had to know that he had tried.

Cassie, fuck. Her gorgeous chestnut hair tied back in that braid. Probably caked with blood by now. Her flushed cheeks and big doe eyes, possibly bruised and battered. Her hands…they were so strong clasped around the back of his neck, pulling his hair as their bodies intertwined just a couple nights before all of this. He pictured those hands bound and going numb. His chest was swelling with premeditated grief, sorrow, and total hatred. For himself, mostly. He was such an asshole last night. Why couldn’t he ever take his own advice? “Moments are all we got,” he had told her. That was their last night together and he spent it drunk and cursing at her. Yet she still cradled his head as he fell asleep in her lap. She reached for him, she stood strong against his harsh words. She never flinched or gave him reason for any of it. She was much stronger than he ever could be.

He decided right then that losing this fight was not an option. Creeping back into the cover of the woods, he began his stake-out.


End file.
